# LANGUAGE translation of https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling-exceptions.html # Copyright (C) YEAR Free Software Foundation, Inc. # This file is distributed under the same license as the original article. # FIRST AUTHOR , YEAR. # #, fuzzy msgid "" msgstr "" "Project-Id-Version: selling-exceptions.html\n" "POT-Creation-Date: 2021-07-21 18:26+0000\n" "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n" "Last-Translator: FULL NAME \n" "Language-Team: LANGUAGE \n" "Language: \n" "MIME-Version: 1.0\n" "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=CHARSET\n" "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n" #. type: Content of: msgid "Selling Exceptions to the GNU GPL - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h2> msgid "Selling Exceptions to the GNU GPL" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "by <a href=\"https://www.stallman.org/\">Richard Stallman</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Selling exceptions means that the copyright holder of the code releases it " "to the general public under a valid free software license, then separately " "offers users the option of paying for permission to use the same code under " "different terms, for instance terms allowing its inclusion in proprietary " "applications." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "We must distinguish the practice of selling exceptions from something " "crucially different: purely proprietary extensions or versions of a free " "program. These two activities, even if practiced simultaneously by one " "company, are different issues. In selling exceptions, the same code that " "the exception applies to is available to the general public as free " "software. An extension or a modified version that is only available under a " "proprietary license is proprietary software, pure and simple, and just as " "wrong as any other proprietary software. This article is concerned with " "cases that involve strictly and only the sale of exceptions." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "We must also distinguish selling exceptions from dual licensing, which means " "releasing the program under a choice of licenses. With dual licensing, each " "user can choose to use the program under either one of the licenses, or " "under both in parallel for activities that fit both. (Thus, redistributors " "normally pass along both of the licenses.) For instance, Perl was " "distributed for many years under a dual license whose alternatives were the " "GNU GPL and the Artistic License. That is not necessary any more because " "version 2 of the Artistic License is compatible with the GNU GPL." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "In selling exceptions, the exception's terms are not a second license that " "the program is released under. Rather, they are available only to those " "users that buy an exception. The only license that the release carries is " "the GNU GPL, so this is not dual licensing." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "We must distinguish selling of exceptions from the usual kind of " "“exception to the GPL,” which simply gives all users permission " "to go beyond the GPL's conditions in some specific way. These exceptions " "are governed by section 7 of the GNU GPL. Selling exceptions is legally " "independent of the GNU GPL. To avoid confusion it is best not to refer to " "exceptions that are sold as “exceptions to the GPL.”" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "I've considered selling exceptions acceptable since the 1990s, and on " "occasion I've suggested it to companies. Sometimes this approach has made " "it possible for important programs to become free software." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The KDE desktop was developed in the 90s based on the Qt library. Qt was " "proprietary software, and TrollTech charged for permission to embed it in " "proprietary applications. TrollTech allowed gratis use of Qt in free " "applications, but this did not make it free/libre software. Completely free " "operating systems therefore could not include Qt, so they could not use KDE " "either." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "In 1998, the management of TrollTech recognized that they could make Qt free " "software and continue charging for permission to embed it in proprietary " "software. I do not recall whether the suggestion came from me, but I " "certainly was happy to see the change, which made it possible to use Qt and " "thus KDE in the free software world." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Initially, they used their own license, the Q Public License " "(QPL)—quite restrictive as free software licenses go, and incompatible " "with the GNU GPL. Later they switched to the GNU GPL; I think I had " "explained to them that it would work for the purpose." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Selling exceptions depends fundamentally on using a copyleft license, such " "as the GNU GPL, for the free software release. A copyleft license permits " "embedding in a larger program only if the whole combined program is released " "under that license; this is how it ensures extended versions will also be " "free. Thus, users that want to make the combined program proprietary need " "special permission. Only the copyright holder can grant that, and selling " "exceptions is one style of doing so. Someone else, who received the code " "under the GNU GPL or another copyleft license, cannot grant an exception." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "When I first heard of the practice of selling exceptions, I asked myself " "whether the practice is ethical. If someone buys an exception to embed a " "program in a larger proprietary program, he's doing something wrong (namely, " "making proprietary software). Does it follow that the developer that sold " "the exception is doing something wrong too?" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "If that implication were valid, it would also apply to releasing the same " "program under a noncopyleft free software license, such as the X11 license. " "That also permits such embedding. So either we have to conclude that it's " "wrong to release anything under the X11 license—a conclusion I find " "unacceptably extreme—or reject the implication. Using a noncopyleft " "license is weak, and <a " "href=\"/licenses/license-recommendations.html\">usually an inferior " "choice</a>, but it's not wrong." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "In other words, selling exceptions permits limited embedding of the code in " "proprietary software, but the X11 license goes even further, permitting " "unlimited use of the code (and modified versions of it) in proprietary " "software. If this doesn't make the X11 license unacceptable, it doesn't " "make selling exceptions unacceptable." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "There are three reasons why the FSF doesn't practice selling exceptions. " "One is that it doesn't lead to the FSF's goal: assuring freedom for each " "user of our software. That's what we wrote the GNU GPL for, and the way to " "achieve this most thoroughly is to release under GPL version 3-or-later and " "not allow embedding in proprietary software. Selling exceptions wouldn't " "achieve this, just as release under the X11 license wouldn't. So normally " "we don't do either of those things: we release under the GPL only." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Another reason we release only under the GPL is so as not to permit " "proprietary extensions that would present practical advantages over our free " "programs. Users for whom freedom is not a value might choose those nonfree " "versions rather than the free programs they are based on—and lose " "their freedom. We don't want to encourage that." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "There are occasional cases where, for specific reasons of strategy, we " "decide that using a more permissive license on a certain program is better " "for the cause of freedom. In those cases, we release the program to " "everyone under that permissive license." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This is because of another ethical principle that the FSF follows: to treat " "all users the same. An idealistic campaign for freedom should not " "discriminate, so the FSF is committed to giving the same license to all " "users. The FSF never sells exceptions; whatever license or licenses we " "release a program under, that is available to everyone." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "But we need not insist that companies follow that principle. I consider " "selling exceptions an acceptable thing for a company to do, and I will " "suggest it where appropriate as a way to get programs freed." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't have notes. #. type: Content of: <div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S NOTES*" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a " "href=\"mailto:gnu@gnu.org\"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a " "href=\"/contact/\">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and " "other corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a " "href=\"mailto:webmasters@gnu.org\"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, #. replace it with the translation of these two: # #. We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality #. translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. #. Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard #. to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> # #. <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> # #. <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of #. our web pages, see <a #. href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations #. README</a>. #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please see the <a " "href=\"/server/standards/README.translations.html\">Translations README</a> " "for information on coordinating and contributing translations of this " "article." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Copyright © 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 Richard Stallman" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This page is licensed under a <a rel=\"license\" " "href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons " "Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't want credits. #. type: Content of: <div><div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S CREDITS*" msgstr "" #. timestamp start #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Updated:" msgstr ""